Advent ~ day 17 ~ Mary treasured these things

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. (‭Luke‬ ‭2‬:‭15-20‬ NIV)

So much had happened in the last 9 months, so much to take in. Yet we find in this passage an important truth about Mary.

But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart

The ‘but’ implies that despite the events she didn’t give in to unbelief. Though it was a test, she didn’t forget the things that were spoken to her.

The word for treasured means to preserve something and stop it from being lost, to hold onto something so that it is not forgotten, to guard and to take care of. Mary did all of that with the words that were spoken and the events of the last nine months. She guarded them, she protected them, she stopped them from being lost. How? Well the next word gives us an insight into how she did it. It says that she pondered them. The word for pondering means to confer with one’s self and to converse. She would have constantly thought about the things that were happening, you could even call it meditating in the sense that meditation means to muse and to chew over something as a cow chews over the cud. Mary pondered the things that happened, she treasured the words that were spoken.

These words would have been an anchor to her during this time and the years that lay ahead. Her whole life had been turned upside down and it was the encounters with God and His words that kept her. God is not afraid of turning our world upside down but He will always sustain us, we have His word in the form of the bible but we also have the word of the Lord spoken by His Spirit, through prophecy, impressions, dreams, visions or by any means the Lord decides to communicate it with us. However we receive, we have these words too, and they along with the written word keep us in the storm, they hold us steady on our course and give us hope when our external realities seem to be in conflict. It is at these points of contradiction that we have to make a decision who we are going to believe, the situation we face or the word from the Lord. Holding onto the word only comes by being like Mary, treasuring and pondering that which the Lord has spoken.

So take a moment and think about what the Lord has impressed to you, if you can’t remember anything, take some time and ask the Lord to speak to you through his word or by supernatural means. He is not reluctant to speak, in fact He wants to communicate with you more than you realise. When you have the word, treasure it and meditate upon it.